


Among the Inbetween

by FightForToday



Category: Naruto
Genre: Addiction, Angst, Drinking, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Romance, Everyone Needs A Hug, F/M, Frenemies, Friends to Lovers, Hatake Kakashi Is Trying, Hatake Kakashi is a Little Shit, Healing, Romance, everyone is bad at feelings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-19
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:28:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26539597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FightForToday/pseuds/FightForToday
Summary: Orphaned at the tail end of the Third War, Kotone is left looking for answers to questions she doesn’t know to ask.  Her life quickly becomes anything but her own and in a world where killing is profession, there is no room for weakness. Life deals hard lessons. Some are harder learned than others. For Kotone, finding herself is a long time in the making.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Original Female Character(s), Mizuki/Kunoichi Tsubaki of Konohagakure, Original Female Character(s)/Original Male Character(s), Sarutobi Asuma/Yuuhi Kurenai
Comments: 1
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, hello. This was originally on fanfic under a different name, but I rewrote/edited the first 10 chapters. I feel like cross-posting here is a bit of a fresh start. And I have more than those original ten chapters now so yay. I do my best to stay mostly canon, but to be honest I totally 100% write oc fics for my own self-indulgent purposes, so if something doesn't quite match up to the timeline/canon, just pretend it does lmao. It's fairly oc-centric, but I think there's a good balance of other characters and everyone's favorite man (you know, the reason why you're really here). I'll do my best to update weekly-ish. Enjoy!

Her world had never been a joy at every moment of the day. She never managed to avoid the taint of death that riddled every shinobi. She lost battles, she lost friends, family. That was life and the life all were accustomed to. People didn't win every fight, no matter what kind (although far in the future, unbeknown to most, a Naruto Uzumaki would challenge that notion).

Right now, Kotone Matsushita was another child desperately trying to be something more than what she was. She hit the ground knees sinking in the dirt as the world bared its heavy truth on her shoulders. This was where her chances would end. She failed.

Konohagakure was known for its pleasant weather almost year-round, but when it rained, it felt worse than the Kirigakure. Water pelted those below, harsh and fast, stinging anyone without cover. Kotone trembled in anger. Her body was exhausted beyond anything she had ever experienced; the fight had been taken out of her and it was all she could do not to completely break down in front of her lame team and genin proctor.

"Do you think this is some game in the Academy where if you lose, it's all good and well?"

Kotone swallowed hard trying to think of a retort.

"You're all brats, every single one of you, you don't understand anything about being a shinobi for this village. You live for this village, you die for it. No enemy will show you mercy because of age and trust me if they do, you'd rather be dead then come back being spared. This," A hand gestured toward Kotone, "is what a _child_ would do. Your best isn't good enough and what do you do, you cry."

"I am not crying!" She snarled, throwing her arm out and spraying up mud.

"You couldn't even come close to touching me, let alone land an attack. You two,” Finally, he acknowledged the boys behind Kotone, “you left each other for dead, no attempt at team work again. It's pathetic. Ninja who refuse to help comrades are worse than scum. I am not going to pass genin who cannot work together."

Her muscles screamed at her movement, but Kotone managed to stand. "What do you know! You're damn right we can't touch you, you're some goddamn ANBU! If you expect us to fight on your level, then of course we won't win! Screw them, I tried to get them to work as a team! How is that fair to me!?"

The eye staring at her was cold. "Life isn't fair."

"I know that!" Her voice became hoarse.

Her second year as a potential genin and her team failed her again. Kotone was absolutely mortified to not have been promoted. It was her luck to be put with the same instructor who within moments of meeting her the first time decided she wasn't destined to make the cut. She knew she had other things working against her, she always had, but to have this ripped from her hands was cruel.

The proctor vanished instantly after his verdict and her team walked past her with sneers. She heard them mutter insults toward her and one another, something about them not caring about being a shinobi if they had to always get yelled at.

She was left alone in the field to smash her fists into the ground once more in a broken rage. She was supposed to make her mom proud. In fact, she felt sure the sky's tears were her mother's, cold and enveloping Kotone's failure.

* * *

The Fourth Hokage slumped into his chair looking at the fat red mark across a pile of genin files. The Third Hokage, who was visiting, also looked a bit disheartened. Their sighs were simultaneous. Minato pulled out the one file he was struggling to decide on.

"She isn't too blame." Minato argued to himself, reading over the proctor comments.

He was more than aware his student's disposition was far from good and most definitely not ready to be testing children practically his own age. The issue was a severe lack in jounin. Those that were still alive weren’t in the village long enough to be given a team, so as long as there was any jounin free, they were to test future genin. If teams passed, Minato would figure out who to assign them to later. Kakashi happened to be the first available person Minato could call on both times. He wished that hadn’t been the case. 

"She's a liability." Hiruzen noted.

"We haven’t had many students with her potential in a while come out of the Academy. Kotone has talent. She’s too good to pass on, even with any issues she might have."

The Third, while not disagreeing, continued. "This was her team's second attempt."

"If I had anyone else free, I would have chosen them. I strongly believe if she had a chance with a different team, she would have made it."

"What about the money? She has no one to pay for what she needs."

Minato tried not to be irritated at the firing off of questions from his predecessor. These decisions weren’t being made lightly.

"Then I'll set up that fund I’ve been working on."

“The council will argue it’s a waste of money, especially on someone like her. They may say others are less of-"

“-a liability, I know. She’s not the only orphan who would benefit from more money though, so the fund isn’t just about her.”

The blonde’s mind was rapidly turning gears. The council would just have to suck it up, there were too many kids without parents in the ninja program that didn’t have the means to live. Kotone was going to be a catalyst for his grant proposal. More than that, he truly believed she was an asset that needed to be kept.

The Academy was churning out students at a rapid rate and as young as they could confidently say they met the bare minimum, but few really had what it took to be successful. Few were able to survive. It was true war had decimated the ranks, however, filling them with what Minato frankly considered incompetent children wasn’t something he desired. He thought about his word choice again, potential. Kotone was full of it. He needed to get her training under someone soon.


	2. Chapter 2

"You have a visitor, Kotone." A nurse stood by the doorway scribbling down notes.

"A visitor?" The only people who came to her room were medical ninja checking in on her recovery. Her thumb rubbed over the bandage where the IV needle had been earlier that day.

Since being denied a genin team, Kotone spent months training on her own- which was how she ended up in the hospital. While she sensed she should've stopped, she didn't. Without a jounin, or anyone really, to guide her, no one told her to take a breather. Instead, she sprained her ankle and was suffering from chakra exhaustion.

Bitter over her exams was an understatement. Half of her classmates at the Academy weren’t really interested in being ninja so chances of her getting stuck with people who didn’t take it seriously had been high. The village spent so much time fast-tracking students into teams for the war, by the time it ended, there were far more people who didn’t need to be in the program than those who were. Kotone figured within the next few years there would be a drop in graduating numbers, but she wished she had been part of the group that was let through.

Behind the nurse, a shinobi Kotone didn't recognize came forward. His face was completely void of emotion.

"Kotone Matsushita?"

"Yes?"

"You registered for a third Academy final."

Her cheeks went pink knowing what was coming. "…Yes."

"There is only one retake allowed in order to receive full genin status. Are you aware of that?"

Pink blossomed to red spreading across pale and hollow cheeks. She knew. She knew because she studied everything twice. Even so, she registered for the exam a third time. The worse they could tell her was no.

"Yeah. I thought maybe…" She trailed off, ready to accept her future as a failed kunoichi.

"Your independent scores qualify you for a reserve position within Konoha. Are you aware of this information?"

"What? A reserve?"

"You will be granted your genin status without a team. Genin may not participate in field operations without a team or accompanying jounin or chunin instructor. It is expected of you to take exams every month to make sure independent training is being successful, you must still be in good physical condition and growing as a kunoichi. Should any genin teams passed within a three-year buffer on both sides require a permanent replacement, you will fill the role."

Her eyes widened taking in it all in. This was a chance she couldn't say no to and still her hesitation was apparent to the man.

"What happens if there isn't a team within in the next three years? And these tests, how am I gonna train without a jounin or team? Or field experience? I'll be useless if I'm thrown onto a team without any of that." She rambled feeling sick to her stomach.

It was so close, the first step was so close, yet it killed her to think of every reason she would fail.

He interjected. "You will have to find an instructor on your own time."

"Where the hell am I supposed get the money for that!? I barely can keep my apartment with what the Village Orphans Act gives me, plus the money I owe for tuition, I can't pay that back without being a field operative! And I'm not stupid, I mean, if I get really hurt…"

Kotone and the unnamed messenger's eyes flickered the IV bag and blood transfusion.

When she was little, she had been told that she was a carrier for hemophilia, and if she chose a civilian life it would never affect her. Minor cuts would heal just fine; some rough housing would be perfectly okay because it didn't affect women the same way it did men. As a ninja, her risk level would be about the same as any male. Kotone distinctly remembered looking into her mother's eyes as she had said _"I want to go to the Academy."_

"That was taken into consideration. A patron had funded a new grant for deserving applicants, decidedly, you were chosen and now have additional funds for medicinal help. If you can manage everything else, your medical needs will be covered."

She let out a noise of surprise.

Up until now Kotone appeared fragile with the white hospital gown swallowing her up, but the messenger was far too smart to judge by appearances. No, he figured she was like a rare handful of ninja passed through the system: fighters at the bottom of a pit who were given enough light to see there had been a rope dangled above their heads when they were damn well ready to claw their way to the top the whole time. Being offered a reserve position meant the council considered her an asset.

There was hardly a pause long enough to say Kotone had mulled over it before her response. "I'll do it."

"Excellent. The Hokage will expect you in his office to sign paperwork at 6 a.m."

Kotone nodded. "Okay."

* * *

At promptly five a.m. Kotone was out of her hospital bed getting dressed for the day. Paperwork was menial, sure, but it was her first step to becoming stronger. For the longest time she had always wanted to become a kunoichi for her mother's sake, because her mother was a good chunin and told Kotone stories about her father's incredible strength and sacrifice.

Rumors of people Kakashi Hatake lost one way or another had reached Kotone's ears explaining his harsh distaste for her team, and perhaps her, but it was no excuse. It was why now more than ever, Kakashi's words burned.

She had watched enemy kunai plunge into her mother's chest until her red, gurgled words became all that plagued Kotone at night. Kakashi had no right to assume that Kotone didn't understand the reality of the world they lived in; there was no ninja who did not know seemingly insufferable pain, it was a matter of when they would know it.

She never wanted to be that helpless again, to watch the only person in her life disappear in the blink of an eye and be left all alone. Never again would someone precious to her die because of her uselessness.

The other side of that argument always rose up (which was often considering how many hours she was left alone to dwell on these things) and put her constant turmoil. _You can support comrades and work in a team without getting close. Friends die. Loved ones die. They all die. You're better off alone._

Her thoughts were disrupted by a gentle voice.

"Are you excited to be a genin?" Emiko asked setting a tray of food down on the nightstand.

Kotone smiled to her nurse as she brushed her hair back into a ponytail. "Yeah."

"I'm glad."

"Me too."

It didn't take long for Kotone to eat and slip on her shoes. Her pack was tied hastily to upper thigh. Before Emiko could offer a good luck, the girl was out the hospital doors and running to the building that was the pride and joy of the Leaf.

Kotone's eyes darted around the streets noticing how many more people were around since the end of the war, more specifically, how many were ninja. Her pace slowed down. She was positive that those who were in the war had a far more noticeable signature to their chakra then the few around who hadn't seen battles.

When familiar dirt street turned into a graveled entry way with a garden boxes surrounding the outside, Kotone stared upward with a new sense of awe. She was seeing this office as someone who was to be a genin.

She walked to the guard at the door. "I'm supposed to sign paperwork this morning with the Fourth Hokage."

"He's in his office. Knock before going in."

"Thanks." Her feet carried her through the long corridors until she reached the room with name labeled.

Hesitantly, she raised her hand. Once she was through the door her life would no longer be her own. The fear of someone holding the issue of money over head loomed and she couldn't put that past the council after the horror stories of the war she heard. Konoha, though good in pretense, would do whatever it needed to in order to survive, which included a lifetime debt only repayable by Kotone's absolute loyalty.

Kotone didn't realized she actually knocked until there was a, "Come in!"

Shaking the thoughts as best she could, she inhaled deeply. She wanted to serve her village.

The moment she stepped in she was greeted by a beaming blonde, the Fourth Hokage was smiling warmly, his eyes crinkling in the corner. She wanted to be soothed by the inviting face, but why feel at home when it wasn't one?

"Kotone, am I right?"

She nodded.

"Take a seat and we'll get started." He leaned forward as she sat. "Between you and me, it's way too early for this. I don't know who schedules these things."

The corner of her mouth quirked up in amusement.

Minato opened a folder and pulled out a good-sized set of documents. "So, you're agreeing to genin reserve status?"

She nodded again.

"Any questions before we start filling this stuff out?"

"What happens if there isn't a team in a three-year buffer?"

"There will be. While it's a great thought, we aren't quite blessed enough for that."

"I was told… someone is paying for medicine?"

"Ah, yes, it’s a part of a new grant program. Funded by a few different donors."

"I can't know who it is? I want to thank them."

A softened expression came over his features. "I'm sure they know you're thankful."

Kotone would never know he was one of the people putting up the cash for her. He didn't want her to feel indebted to anyone personally, especially not the Hokage.

Results from the Academy revealed her exceptional chakra control. She could sense it well too. Kotone could usually figure out how strong someone was based on their signature. It made it easier to size up an opponent and avoid injuries stemmed from her condition. Not impervious to mistakes in judgement, of course, as Kotone did still end up losing sparring matches in class. Another good example was Kakashi. Kotone, according to her file, figured out early on that he hadn’t been a normal jounin. She didn’t have the skills to best him, but she tried. Her summoning jutsu didn't hurt her application either.

Part of Minato had wished they had more children like her during the war, but the thought was cut short. No, if he could've helped it no child that young would be placed in that situation, no matter how skilled.

"Is that everything?" Minato asked.

"The boy who failed me, Kakashi Hatake…" Kotone licked her lips nervously when she felt the shift in the air. She sighed, suddenly too worried about what would happen if she asked. "Never mind, I guess it isn't important."

The pair leaned across the desk from opposite sides and made their way down the lists on the papers, signature there, initial here. Each minute passing was another that Kotone realized Minato truly cared about the Leaf. He made jokes, asked Kotone questions, anything he could do to know more about Kotone and what her dreams were, he did. By the time they finished Kotone struggled to believe the government could be run so corruptly when a man like Minato was sitting at the top, but then again, he didn't install all of the programs, just enforced them.

After the final initialing, Kotone bowed with thanks and left to go have her I.D. made. Her first D-Ranked mission of weeding flower beds would start in a week.


	3. Chapter 3

Kotone’s chest barely rose as she inhaled. The numbers counted off in her head. One. Breathe out. Two. Breathe in. Three. Breathe out.

The kunai spun around her finger and then flew forward at a blinding speed. With a thud, it lodged itself half an inch away from the bullseye. She let out a frustrated shout. Every mark was closer than the last, but that wasn’t enough. She needed to hit her given target perfectly every time- in real life it would mean the difference between life and death. 

A month and half had dragged by since her instatement as a reserve kunoichi, so she was taking advantage of her break from D-ranked gardening. Kotone yanked another kunai from her pouch agitated and forced chakra to her hands. Her fingers buzzed feeling the intense energy flow through them. 

Her eyes glanced down to the pages by her feet. She began murmuring the words back to herself. “With chakra in your hands place the kunai it’s throwing position as shown in chapter one…Use diagram two to see what the chakra should look like under your skin.”

Kotone took another breath in and then threw the weapon. It missed.

She kicked the book across the grass.

“It’s your foot position.”

She froze, slowly turning to look at the person behind her. A shinobi wearing a flak jacket looked at her pointedly and she found herself startled by the pupiless eyes. Kotone had only met one other Hyuuga and he was from her Academy class.

“When throwing a kunai from that far away your feet need to be further apart and angle the right foot in more.”

She nodded before doing as told. Her eyes narrowed at the red dot that had been taunting her for hours and flung the kunai. Her mouth parted when it hit dead center.

“You should’ve learned that at the Academy.”

“Ah… they kinda rushed the lesson, as long as we could hit the enemy it was good enough.”

For a moment he said nothing, but his eyes never left her. “You have a protector, are you a genin?”

“I’m a reserve.” She stated flatly, however, her voice picked up emotion quickly. “Why did you help me?”

“You looked tired, like you’ve been working hard and it’s frustrating to see no results.”

“Yeah.” She admitted, “but thank you…”

“Shiro.”

“Thanks, Shiro-sensei.” Her lips formed a smile.

He raised a brow at the added honorific. Kotone blushed worried that she made a mistake calling the older man that, but the taken aback look on his face dissipated rather quickly. 

“Of course. I hope you’ll keep training hard like this.” 

Those eyes, almost impossibly dark, still betrayed her every emotion. She didn’t want to come across as too excited and yet how could she not be? Kotone spent hours in the library reading on ninjutsu and taijutsu techniques. Her small apartment was filled with books covering everything she could find over chakra networks. She vied for spots in the smaller training fields on her days off to practice what she read. And now an actual shinobi finally helped her. Even more so, it was good advice. It worked. 

“I will!” 

* * *

“So?” Minato prompted looking over the student files once again.

Shiro Hyuuga nodded. “She’s not bad. Her chakra control is extremely impressive considering she’s training herself. I’m willing to work with her if you can find a team to put her on.”

“Good, that’s a start.” He replied, meeting the other man’s eyes. Minato smiled. 

Finding a jounin that he thought would benefit Kotone hadn’t been easy. He had decided that she needed someone with exceptional chakra control early on, so a Hyuuga seemed logical, but getting one who was a jounin to work with a girl who was technically a reject was hard. Their pride was a pain in the ass. Shiro, luckily, said he would judge based off her skill, not what the file said. 

Minato worried a bit over what the jounin’s clan would do when they found out Shiro agreed, but for better or worse, that was more of Shiro’s problem than his. He would only intervene if it got out of hand.

“A few of the upcoming classes have odd numbers in them. There’s a handful of kids I’m considering grouping her with, but I’ll have to wait until the Academy scores come in after the exams in a month or so.”

“Will they still be doing the bell test? She already knows exactly what they have to do to get through it.”

“That part isn’t ideal…” Minato sighed, “but, given they get two attempts to become genin, hypothetically they could know anyway. So if she can convince them about the teamwork thing, it will only benefit them.”

“Will her taking it a third time present an issue with the council?”

An even bigger sigh escaped the Fourth Hokage’s mouth. “I’ll handle them when the time comes. Thank you, Shiro.”

“Of course, Lord Hokage.”

Shiro handed Minato his observations from earlier in the week on Kotone. Her chakra system was far more extensive than her normal circulatory. It was assumed to be a side effect of her hemophilia, but no one in the medical team knew for sure. The conditions rarity never warranted studying until the death of Kotomi Matsushita had left her ten-year-old daughter in the care of the shinobi system. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a shorter one but I'm happy with it. I'll try to get two uploaded next weekend to make up for the shortness lol.


	4. Chapter 4

“Come on, come on, when do we start?” Iruka bounced excitedly. “Who did they choose from the Academy to join?”

Mizuki’s leg wouldn’t stop shaking, the table both were leaning against vibrating. Iruka couldn’t stand the idea of waiting another second. He had been working so hard to pass his final Academy exams. His parents had happily given him and Mizuki some for-fun lessons to help them prepare to be genin and all Iruka wanted was to make them proud. He had some new skills he was dying to work on for real under a mentor. Being told he would have to wait a few extra days for a complete team had almost felt like too much. 

He made a quick glance again at Mizuki. It couldn’t have worked out better in his opinion, he got his best friend on his team, but he wondered what kind of person would be joining them. There were some other kids in their class he wasn’t fond of. Hopefully it wouldn’t be them.

Their academy instructor rubbed his temple, clearly getting just as agitated over the wait. Or maybe agitated over them. Iruka realized he may have been pushing his soon to be former teacher’s patience with his pestering. He tried to calm down, but when the door creaked open, he sat straight up in a single breath and slapped his hand across Mizuki.

“This is it! This is it!” Iruka whispered yelled, rapidly patting Mizuki’s chest in excitement.

Mizuki pushed his hand off, but leaned forward a bit more. 

His heart thudded in his ears. Then the thud worsened when she appeared fully in the doorway, his face growing warm at her smile and wave. Mizuki pinched him with an eye roll. It only made his blush worse as he coughed to hide it.

With a narrowing of the eyes, Mizuki spoke. “She isn’t from our class.”

“Mizuki, Iruka Umino, meet Kotone Matsushita. She will be the new member of Team Six.”

Mizuki threw his arm to point at her. “I recognize you. You were ahead of us, weren’t you?” 

“Yeah. I was a reserve until now.”

The Academy instructor made his exit leaving the kids to become acquainted.

“So… you’ve taken the test?” Iruka prompted, trying not to seem as eager as before her arrival. 

“Twice. The council said I can’t take it again since I’m technically already a genin.” She looked into their eyes, and though she stood a few away nervously, Iruka only saw determination. He prayed he wasn’t blushing again. “You have to promise you’ll pass together, no matter what the proctor says.”

He stepped forward to meet her, grabbing Mizuki to drag him toward Kotone as well. Iruka grinned. “Of course we’ll pass! We can’t let our new teammate down! Right, Mizuki?” 

Iruka didn’t give Mizuki’s flinch much though after throwing an arm around him. 

“Of course. What else are friends for?”

At Mizuki’s addition to his declaration, Iruka grinned. 

She gave them a curious glance and laughed a little good heartedly. “How can we be friends, you just met me?”

“Iruka’s secret power is making friends with anyone.” Mizuki shrugged, sliding out from Iruka’s embrace. “If you aren’t already, you will be. Besides, you seem cool, so I don’t see why we won’t be friends.”

* * *

How Kotone ended up in the ramen shop felt like a blur. One moment they were talking about being friends and the next she found herself seated at the counter. She tried to explain that she didn’t have enough money to eat in a restaurant, but Iruka was quick to tell both her and Mizuki that his parents gave him money to buy his new teammates lunch. 

Feeling guilty, she chose the cheapest thing on the menu only to have Iruka look scandalized.

“No way, you have to get this!” He pointed to something else, “It’s the best thing here!”

“Yeah, but that costs a lot more.”

“No biggie, my parents are paying, remember?”

"Well, yeah, but…”

“Nah, no but’s!”

“Might as well get it,” Mizuki chuffed, “He won’t take no for an answer.”

“Um, well, okay then, thank you, Iruka.” Kotone agreed as the man behind the counter chuckled while getting started on their food.

Most of the conversation was one-sided, with Iruka rambling non-stop about how excited he was. He was ready to be a ninja, to make his own money, to show everyone he could be as great of a ninja as his parents. Kotone learned more about him and his family than she knew of her own. Both his parents were jounin. He had no siblings but always wanted a younger brother or sister, then added that Mizuki was basically his brother, so he was okay not having any. Mizuki’s mom passed away when he was younger, she was a civilian. His dad was close to Iruka’s parents, also a jounin. In Iruka’s words, he and Mizuki were best friends because their dad’s were best friends. 

Somehow that transitioned into both of the boy’s retelling their parent’s best stories. Kotone added a few things about her mom, but ended up leaving out that she was dead. It seemed wrong to ruin the happy mood. 

“Bet you didn’t know this since you weren’t in our class, but Mizuki and I had some of the best scores!” Iruka nodded enthusiastically while funneling down more noodles. He choked on it for a moment to which Mizuki chimed in. “Iruka here was also the class clown.”

“Yeah, but I’m done with that stuff. I’m way more serious now that we’re going to be real genin. Although, this one time I got a whoopie cushion under our teacher. His face was priceless!”

“And then you had detention for four days.”

“Worth it!”

“Your parents grounded you!”

Iruka shoved Mizuki playfully. “Still worth it!”

Mizuki readjusted his bandana with a snort. He paused before asking Kotone, “So you’re a genin technically right?”

“Oh! Yeah, I am. Reserve though, so like I only do the gardening stuff around the village. It’s pretty boring.” 

“What all do we have to do for an exam?”

“It’s just about teamwork, they had us try to grab a bell from the jounin proctor when I took it. I don’t know if it’s the same now.”

“So how come you didn’t pass with your old team?” Iruka tilted his head a bit.

She tried to block out her old exams from memory. She could only pray that the way Kakashi ran his wasn't how others did. He broke their bones and spirit all at once. 

“So how come you didn’t pass with your old team?” Iruka tilted his head a bit. 

Kotone laughed. Even thinking about them made her angry. “They were a bunch of jerks. Bunch of asses really. They don't matter anymore.” 

“Oh... that sucks. Well, have no fear, Iruka and Mizuki are here.” Iruka bolstered happily. “But seriously, I promise we won’t let you down! I’m glad you’re our new teammate.” 

She found herself smiling. “Yeah, me too.” 

* * *

The nervous energy in the air that disappeared during lunch slowly crept back in. Kotone walked with arms interlocked behind her, Iruka and Mizuki haphazardly talking, but even their boisterous conversations had toned down considerably. They were all on an even playing field. 

From this point forward, they were going to be equal as genin, and no longer newly met strangers. They were a team. 

Kotone had far fewer doubts about them than she did Yuki and Ichiro. In fact, she had hardly seen the other two boys since they failed their team exam. She figured Ichiro probably ended up helping out his family’s bookstore and Yuki’s parents traveled as crop merchants, so he likely went off with them. She wondered if their parents would ask about giving them reserve status until another team came along that needed a spot filled. Although, neither of them ever really cared about being shinobi. It was more about the expectation that able-bodied kids come out as soldiers.

“Hey, Iruka, watch ou-” Mizuki lazily spoke right as the other boy’s foot went into a pothole. 

Almost immediately, Iruka started to fall backwards, but Kotone sped her pace up to grab his arm. His cheeks blossomed red. 

“Ah, um, thanks, Kotone.”

“Yeah, no problem”

“Geez, you’re such a klutz. It’s a wonder they passed you.” The white haired boy snickered.

Iruka’s face deepened in color, but he still grinned. “You just wait, Mizuki. I’m going to be a super great ninja! Maybe even Hokage someday.”

Mizuki burst out laughing. “You as Hokage?”

“It could happen!”

“Yeah, in your dreams, dude.”

“What do you think, Kotone? You can see me as the Hokage, right?” Iruka puffed his chest out. 

Kotone bit her lip before trying to hide her giggle. “Um, well, maybe?”

“That’s not a no!”

Both Mizuki and Kotone looked at one another before they started cackling. It didn’t take long for Iruka to join. The few trees along the street ruffled in the breeze and the background sounds of people in the village going about their business made Kotone feel normal. This was what she wanted from a team. From friends. Suddenly, she felt more than grateful that Yuki and Ichiro weren’t her teammates. She would have spent every moment arguing with them. It sucked to admit, but Kakashi did that have that right. They never would have successfully accomplished anything.

The last few years had been lonely. She had people she talked to during her Academy classes, but nothing too serious. Living alone after her mom died compounded the issue. Kotone hadn’t even realized she felt lonely until now. Being around two people who already decided she was their friend was eye opening.

Soon enough, the dirt road began sprouting tufts of grass until it merged into a field. The closer they came to the targets, the more anxious she felt. She wouldn’t be able to participate in their bell test. She could watch and that was it. Kotone decided during lunch she’d stay because she wanted to support them. 

Someone was seated on a stump waiting for them. Kotone furrowed her brows.

“Shiro-sensei?”

The Hyuuga man smiled. “Good to see you, Kotone.”

“What? You know our sensei already?” Mizuki exclaimed. 

“Um, well, sort of, I’ve only met him once. It was a few months ago.”

“Unfair!” Iruka groaned, “Already a genin and met our sensei? You’re literally so ahead of us, I don’t know how we’ll ever catch up!”

“I believe your first step will be getting a hold of this.” Shiro raised a brow as he twirled the bell, “As you boys probably know, Kotone can’t help you. And since you likely know how this works, I’m afraid that does mean I’ll have to go a little tougher on you.”

“What?!” All three shouted, Kotone shrinking back waiting for the other two to yell at her for letting them know. She wouldn’t have told them anything if she knew it would make it harder. Mizuki certainly glared a bit, making her gulp, but Iruka stared ahead with concentration at the bell thinking hard.

Shiro changed the pace to dangle the bell rather than spin. “If you boys know how to work together, it shouldn’t present too much of an issue, right?”

“Well, well, yeah, but-” Iruka finally sputtered, “How is going harder on us fair? If anything, it should be the same or easier! We took advantage of knowledge others might not have, that’s part of being a shinobi right? Being resourceful?”

The jounin paused, a perplexed look on his face and then he laughed. “You know, Iruka, your file said you had a tactical mind. You’re right, being a shinobi is about being resourceful as much as it is about teamwork. Maybe I’ll make it as hard as I would for a genin who didn’t know.” 

Iruka stood taller, clearly pleased with what happened. Mizuki rolled his eyes but mimicked Kotone’s relieved look at the information. 

“Nice.” She smiled with a nod in Iruka’s direction. He put a hand behind his head sheepishly and smiled back at her.

It took them about an hour and a half to get a hold of the bell. At the end of it, Iruka and Mizuki collapsed to their knees on the grass panting, the white haired boy holding up their trophy victoriously. Kotone ran forward, throwing herself into them for a group hug. 

She was stuck between laughing and crying. She had a real team now. She didn’t have to be alone. All her worries were temporarily gone. Part of the reason she felt so on the fence about friends was she didn’t have any. Now that she did, Kotone wanted to get stronger with them. Maybe they’d even be able to help her figure out what happened to her parents.

Shiro walked over, placing a hand on her head. Kotone glanced up to find him giving another small smile. 

“Training starts bright and early at five a.m.” 

“You got it, Shiro-sensei.” Iruka gave a thumbs up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One thing I've loved writing is young Iruka and Mizuki. I hope they seem as in character as they can be given we only get small glimpses of them as kids and it's after their ~childhood trauma~ I'll try to update again before next week but life is a mess as usual lol :)


	5. Chapter 5

Every muscle in Kotone’s body ached. She thought all her training was comparable to what she would have done with a jounin, but she was wrong. Shiro worked Team Six like dogs and they were only three weeks in. She was ahead of Iruka and Mizuki, but not by much. Shiro made it clear the first day that they had a long way to go. He blamed it on the Academy, but reassured them if they kept working as hard as they were, they’d be better than him in no time.

She sighed falling into the grass. Her fingers traced the clouds in the sky. It was encouraging to know Shiro thought she had potential. It also wasn’t enough. She wanted to find the man who killed her mother. She wanted to know why. She wanted revenge. Kotone wanted things that she would only get by moving up the ranks. It meant she needed to be stronger.

“Do you wish to try again?” 

A deep breath escaped her mouth as she forced herself to her feet. She nodded to the falcon by her side. 

“Let’s do this, Hayabusa.”

He launched himself back to the sky and quickly dodged the first shuriken to leave Kotone’s hand. She sprinted to the nearest patch of trees, rapidly moving from branch to branch. The goal was for Kotone to catch her bird before he caught her.

It had already been an hour and a half since they started. Kotone was reaching her limit for the day, the morning team session taking it out of her. Shiro told her not to overwork herself. He had been told she did that a lot when she was reserve, so he made a point of chastising her for it. What he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him, although she guessed he’d find out someway or another. 

After a few minutes, Kotone realized she couldn’t sense Hayabusa’s chakra and she cursed. She was so focused on getting enough distance between them that she didn’t keep track of his exact location. Her eyes search the upper canopy to no avail. 

Leaves rustled gently from the left and right. Hayabusa thought he could trick her by moving when the wind did. She quickly formed hand signs, dropping to the ground and leaving a substitution in her place. The moment she broke out of the treeline, Kotone screeched to a halt and changed directions. Hayabusa was closing in. She didn’t need to turn around to know he was hot on her tail. 

She sent more shuriken his way and heard the woosh of one gliding under his feathers. Kotone let out a choke as Hayabusa’s talons grabbed the back of her shirt, yanking her to a stop. She wheezed to get air in. 

“Your offensive is still sloppy. ”

“I…” Another wheeze, “...know.”

“Defense is improving, you come quite close to hitting me as long as I pursue you. Next time, I think it will be best if we have you solely hunt me.”

She nodded.

* * *

The rest of her day was uneventful. Kotone went home, showered, then went back out to run errands. All she could think about was the nap she was going to take once she didn’t have to leave her apartment again. There was also a pile of books calling her name. A new edition for one of the ninjutsu techniques and chakra control guides she liked was released earlier in the week. And she had a few non-fiction books one of the librarians suggested. 

She made quick work of the menial things, submitting medical reports on herself, picking up new sets of kunai and shuriken. By the time she made it into the grocery store, Kotone sluggishly walked around to get the things on her list. The exhaustion of the day was hitting her hard. She stopped by the produce stands outside the store lining the market street to get some fruit then started her way home again.

About halfway to her apartment Kotone slowed her pace across from a small shop that a group older teens were seated around. Most of their expressions read tired, even a bit fed up, and she wondered how much war they had seen. Then there was the odd boy, a full green suit and bowl cut that was a cringe worthy as it came. To Kotone’s great surprise he was in Kakashi’s face, grinning and talking excitedly, his hands waving about as if he couldn’t contain whatever made him so happy. 

Her former proctor, however, looked less than enthused. He wasn’t standing close to their table, so the other boy clearly stopped Kakashi amidst his own walking down the street. 

Despite the bags on Kotone’s shoulder growing heavy, she found herself stuck curiously watching the interaction. Was he always as awful as he appeared to her? For a guy called the “friend-killer”, he didn’t look all that alone. Granted most of the other chunin and jounin around his age at the table didn’t seem nearly as interested in getting Kakashi’s attention. 

The boy in the green said something and they both turned to look at Kotone. Embarrassment riddled her for getting caught staring. She straightened up and whipped her around to keep walking forward, but she didn’t get far before she tripped. It was the same pothole Iruka stumbled over just a few weeks ago. An exclamation left her mouth as she fell forward. The bag on her left side ripped from the bottom and sent her food across the road. She half caught herself, one hand on the ground and was quick to push herself back up right.

A few tin cans rolled away. The fresh produce that sat at the top of the bag was effectively ruined. She wouldn’t get paid again for another two weeks and half her food was now gone. She didn’t have money to buy more until then. Kotone thought she might cry. She stood unmoving trying to gain her composure. 

The attention of all the older kids zoned in on her. She could hear the chatter, one girl asking the others if they thought they should help Kotone. Kotone quickly wiped her eyes with the now free hand and set her intact bag down. She slowly started picking up what hadn’t been crushed by the jars. Just her luck that most of the glass jars broke too. Preserved foods were cheaper and lasted longer. Usually Kotone tried to save money on food so she could pay her bills, but it looked like she would be scraping by this month. 

She pulled her hand back with a quiet hiss when some of the glass cut her finger. 

A different hand appeared offering Kotone one of the runaway cans. She blinked. Her face grew hot seeing Kakashi’s condescending look. He didn’t have to say anything for Kotone to know exactly what he was thinking. He didn’t think she should have been promoted to genin. In this particular situation, she didn’t blame him. She must have looked like an idiot flailing and losing her groceries like that. 

She struggled to shove it into her other bag that was already full. He picked up the other two cans and waited so he could hang them to her. Kotone kept her eyes down and muttered a soft “Thanks.”

He turned silently and started back down the road in the opposite direction. Kotone gathered the rest of what she could and held her ripped bag from the bottom. She turned around to glance at him again, but he was already gone, the remnant smoke of a transportation jutsu rising off the ground.


End file.
